A very popular sitcom about six twenty-something friends in New York City as they find their way through life. The friends include brother and sister Ross (David Schwimmer) and Monica Geller (Courteney Cox Arquette). Ross is a paleontologist with low self-esteem and Monica is a neat-freak and chef. Ross’ old college roommate is sarcastic Chandler (Matthew Perry), who lives with not-very-bright struggling actor Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc). They are friends with eccentric free-spirit Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow). In the series pilot, spoiled rich girl Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston) leaves her fiance at the alter and moves in with her old friend Monica.

Series Finale: Episodes 237 & 238 – The Last One: Monica and Chandler make an urgent trip to the hospital and get a big surprise. Rachel heads to the airport to catch her flight to Paris. Ross realizes his feelings and goes after her with Phoebe in tow. Joey finds the perfect housewarming gift.
Read the long version: part one and part two.

What happened next?
The spin-off Joey debuted on September 9, 2004 in the Friends timeslot and followed the exploits of Matt LeBlanc’s Joey Tribbiani after he moved to Los Angeles. The show was cancelled midway through the second season due to low ratings.

A framed picture of Joey and Chandler can be seen on Joey’s refrigerator and Friends characters were mentioned on the spin-off but, they never appeared in person. LeBlanc has said that, had the series continued, his former castmates probably would have made cameos. Actor Robert Costanzo did however play Joey’s father on both series. He was the only actor (other than LeBlanc) to appear on both series as the same character.

Several castmembers have expressed passing interest in doing a Friends reunion (perhaps centered around a Thanksgiving gathering) but it has not happened yet.

Behind the Scenes
NBC wanted to continue with the highly-rated series but the cast wasn’t interested in doing an 11th season. Prior to the finale, the network aired a one-hour retrospective episode called “The One with All The Other Ones.” It featured a variety of clips from the series’ 10 years and attracted almost 37 million viewers. The cast appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno later in the evening.

At the start of the sixth season, the opening credits feature Courteney Cox Arquette’s new married name. As a joke, all of the cast members and series’ creators have “Arquette” added to the end of their names.

Phoebe’s twin sister Ursula (also played by Kudrow) first appeared on the sitcom Mad About You as a waitress. Friends’ creators did not originally intend for Phoebe to have a twin, but wrote Ursula into the show to explain why Kudrow was appearing on two different shows on NBC’s Thursday night line-up.

The show was known for its close-knit cast. The six main actors made deliberate efforts to maintain the show’s ensemble format and were unified in contract negotiations. All six appeared in every episode of the series.

How can we get a petition going to have a Friends reunion? The 10 year anniversary of them going off the air is coming up and that could be a good way for them to reunited. Friends 10 years later with their kids and maybe Joey’s acting career actually took off! Would love to see that. Any ideas on how to get that going? Funny Jeremy that you should think that Lisa & Matt basically made the show but they were 2nd and 3rd for number of awards and nominations. Jennifer blew everyone away with awards and nominations. But I… Read more »

This was the show of it’s time. I am re-watching the episodes on Nick@Nite. There is no equal. Either you love this show or you hate it. Have you ever met a Ross, Chandler, Phoebe, Monica,Joey, or a Rachel? And if anyone you know says they hate this show ask them this: “Why? Did you not keep in touch with your friends as time went on?” I wonder how they will respond? Hmmm…. This show ended at the right point and time for these 6 Friends. We all miss you guys, hope to see a reunion. Ciao. ^_^ ^_^

I watched the entire series like a year and a half ago. Honestly it was a little better than I thought it would be. I honestly think it just ties with Will & Grace. Friends was the worst at dropping bombshells at the last second of every season. I mean Rachel pregnaut and Ross and Rachel getting married while their drunk just to name a couple. I would give this show a 8 out of 10. I just wanna know one thing from the ladies though. If your on a break, are you allowed to see other people or not??… Read more »

The main reason for “Friends” being cancelled is because NBC had actually announced in July of 2003 that the 11th season would be the show’s last, and that the cast members wanted to move on to other projects; however, the only ones who ever did so were Courtney Cox-Arquette (Dirt), Jennifer Aniston , and Matt LeBlanc.